No fewer than 100 aides of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde have resigned their positions in the last four months.

The gale of resignations peaked last week when 3 of the governor’s appointees joined the Chief of Staff, Dr Segun Ogunwuyi, in defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Makinde is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

Other appointees who have resigned from the government include former Senate Deputy Majority Whip Hosea Agboola, Chairman of the Advisory Council; former Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni (rtd); and former Chief Whip of the Alliance for Democracy in the House of Representatives, Babatunde Oduyoye.

Owoseni served as the governor’s Special Adviser on Security, while Oduyoye served as his political adviser and a member of the State Advisory Council.

Tensions in the governor’s camp over the crumbling political structure forced him to hold meetings to halt the wave of defections. Although the governor debunked the reports, insisting that all was well with the government and the APM, more supporters abandoned him after the tense meetings.

The resignations, which began with Agboola’s exit, reached earthquake proportions when the Chief of Staff left, along with many supporters, in Ogbomoso, his hometown.

No fewer than 32 political appointees, including three serving local government chairmen, party chairmen and supervisory councillors, quit the APM.

Devastated by the defections, the House of Assembly, which is backing the governor, suspended four serving local government chairmen. Three of them had joined Ogunwuyi in defecting to the APC in Ogbomoso.

The chairman of Iwajowa local government was also suspended.

According to sources, the measure was taken to caution other local government chairmen and ensure no defections in their domains. Other top officials who have left Makinde’s government and the APM, apart from the Chief of Staff, include commissioners, directors-general, executive secretaries, special advisers, board chairmen and members, special assistants and supervisory councillors.

Those who quit the government recently include Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ayobami Ojo; Special Adviser on Economic Planning, Adegbola Oyeleke; Director-General, Due Process, Tara Adefope; Special Adviser on Politics, Babatunde Oduyoye; Special Adviser on Security, CP Fatai Owoseni; Executive Assistant on Security, Kabiru Salami; and Senior Adviser on Diaspora Matters, Funmi Arulogun.

Others are Sunday Olugbenga Falana — Member of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC); Dr Damilare Gideon Amusan — Chairman of the Governing Board o’ the College of Agriculture, Igboora; Peter Oyetunji — former two-term lawmaker and political associate; Elder Aderibigbe; Joshua Olusola Afolabi (TESCOM Board); Rebecca Oladoja Agbejimi (SUBEB); and Noah Olusola Adeyanju (Governing Council member, Michael Adeniyi Koleosho Polytechnic, Saki).

Makinde has suspended all the local government chairmen of the affected local councils.

The source said the governor has also ordered other commissioners and aides to return to their local governments with instructions to “ensure that no more defections take place.”

The source said the governor released huge sums of money to local government chiefs to distribute in their areas to hold the structure together.

However, the governor debunked the allegations.

Makinde’s media aide, Sulaiman Olanrewaju, said: “It is not true that as many as 100 aides of the Governor have defected in four months. While it is true that some aides have left the Governor, the development is nothing to worry about.”

He added: “The incontestable fact is that the mandate is that of Governor Seyi Makinde. After he won the election, he invited the aides to join him in serving the people of Oyo State.

“For every aide appointed by the Governor, there are at least 20 others that could have been appointed. Hence, the departure of those who left has not hampered the administration in any way.

“It is not true that the Governor plans to release billions of naira for local mobilisation to stop defection because there is no basis for it. Governor Makinde enjoys the people’s support. “While some elites may have issues with the Governor’s style of putting the people first and working for their interest, the masses have no problem with Governor Makinde. So, rather than waste public funds on so-called local mobilisation, Governor Makinde would use such funds for developmental projects.

“Governor Makinde has not directed aides to relocate to localities for the simple reason that Governor Makinde will never abandon governance for politics. Asking aides to leave their duty posts for their localities is tantamount to abandoning governance for politics. Governor Makinde would be the last person to do such. This is a Governor who has vowed to work for the people of Oyo State until his last day in office. So, why would he now ask his aides to leave their desks and go to their localities? So what would happen? (The Nation)